THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE...

...can be hard to cope with. this is something that many of my friends had to deal with on this somber day. you see, today, well... today eastside deli closed its doors for good. the costa mesa shop had only been open for a short while... its barebones staff and worse-than-bank hours no doubt aided in the restaurant's downfall. but two things remain true:

• the staff was awesome. the two girls that worked the register EVERY time we visited eastside are absolute dears. they always treated us well and never fouled up an order. not once. additionally, one of them even had a crush on carlos, i think... yes amber, you better be happy that carlos doesn't think with his stomach because...


• ...eastside deli's sandwiches were amazing. the pollo caprese on squaw was my first love. the chicken was always grilled to perfection -- moist and tender -- and seasoned with just a hint of basil and oregano. its 1/2" thick fresh mozzarella often slid out of the roll... though this never bothered me. just the sight of such a lovely piece of cheese is magnificent. to eat such a thing alone is nearly as much of a treat as the sandwich itself.

the hot turkey sandwich on stuffing bread was my most recent eastside obsession. carlos had already formed a habit of ordering this wonder while i remained unadventurous and stuck with the classics. but this monster is a force to be reckoned with. hot turkey is obviously choice. especially when there is a giant mound of it piled atop a piece of bread crafted with not only flour, yeast, salt and water... but also with diced carrots, celery, and other such stuffing-related vegetables. the sandwich often ended up rather soggy... but in this case, that was a good thing. those lovely pieces of stuffing bread were like sponges soaking up every last drop of flavor that happened to escape the tender meat. and... actually, i need to stop now. i'm making myself both sad and hungry.

when i say that i miss eastside deli, know that it's quite true. i feel as if i lost an acquaintance to some dark disease today. i tried thinking positively... "you're moving away..." i reminded myself. but in reality my efforts to sooth my sadness are for naught. i'll never see a turkey on stuffing bread sandwich ever again... let alone taste one.


eastside. i'll miss you. goodbye... Posted by ryan at February 20, 2004 08:51 PM